Individualism and Change: America in the 1970s

The 1970’s in the United States are thought of as an era of individualism. Virtually all aspects of culture and society changed during this time. The gay rights movement began to gain widespread support during this decade. The stock market gained another index, named Nasdaq, which would eventually become the second largest exchange in the world, behind only the New York Stock Exchange. Even music was changing throughout the country; bands like ABBA, the BeeGees, and The Village People opened the doors to the glittery world of disco. One major event that carried over from the sixties were the protests of the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. Citizens felt that the United States had no business being in Vietnam because they felt liberating

Ellsberg was a military analyst who decided that information held in the Pentagon Papers should be more readily available to the American public. The Pentagon Papers are documents that held sensitive information belonging to the United States government. To get this information out, Ellsberg illegally photocopied the report and gave them to the New York Times in March of 1971. The New York Times then proceed to print daily articles beginning on June 13, 1971. The U.S. government then got a court order that prevented the New York Times from printing any more articles. They argued that the articles were a threat to national security. In response to this, Ellsberg then sent the articles to the Washington Post, which instantly posted articles as well. The government tried to do the same thing to the Washington Post, but got denied. Within two weeks of getting denied, that case, along with the New York Times case, were in the Supreme

people. On top of it being their right, the government never elaborated on how the printing of these journals were a threat to national security. If there was not a threat to national security, the U.S. government was illegally stopping the New York Times from printing which was in turn, infringing on their constitutional right. The Government, however, saw this case in a completely light. They felt that absolute freedom of the press is nowhere guaranteed in the constitution, especially when national security is involved. The side of the U.S. was attempting to show the justices that a balance has to be made between freedom of press and the safety of the nation. Another argument made by the Government was that by allowing the publication of these articles could set a dangerous precedent for future cases that involve the same issue. The case went down to the wire, with both sides making fair and logical